ECP Code Violations Continued through End of Campaign Period
ISLAMABAD, March 19, 2013: District Election Commissioners (DECs) in 23 observed districts have reported receiving a total of 96,581 voter applications (includes data from NADRA) for registration from July 10, 2012 to March 7, 2013, says a press release of Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
According to the report released on Tuesday, these findings are part of the 17th FAFEN Pre-Election Update titled – Election Administration Preparations – that documents voter registration statistics gathered from 33 reporting districts. It is based on information collected by the FAFEN District Long-Term Observers (DLTOs) who interviewed DECs about ongoing voter registration, among other topics relevant to pre-election preparations for General Election 2013. The statistics gathered by DLTOs from DEC offices also include data sent by the National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for new voter registration since July 2012.
DECs in 13 Punjab districts received the most voter registration applications (also includes data received from NADRA) in the reporting period. They received 72,655 applications, or 75.2% of the total, in the following districts: Sahiwal, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Kasur, Jhang, Hafizabad, Bahawalnagar, Gujrawanwala, Jhelum, Narowal, Bahawalpur, Vehari, and Rajanpur. More than 60.5% of the applications in Punjab were in Rawalpindi (44,000), followed by Sahiwal (14,320, or 19.7%) and Bahawalpur (10,660, or 14.7%). The remaining 10 districts reported applications of 3,675 voters (5.1%).
A total of 23,141 voter applications were registered in 10 districts in Sindh. These districts, with almost 24% of the total applications, were Tando Muhammad Khan (210), Mirpurkhas (7,368), Umerkot (4,482), Jacobabad (4,475), Sanghar (1,025), Tharkparkar (2,012), Ghotki (574), Naushero Feroz (532), Dadu (1,010) and Kamber Shahdakot (1,453).
In Balochistan, 785 voter applications were received (less than 1% of the total) in Mastung (463) and Washuk (322). The DEC in Charsadda (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) did not share the information regarding voter registration.
FAFEN DLTOs asked DECs about the ongoing voter registration in 33 districts – 15 in Punjab, 14 in Sindh, three in Balochistan and one in KP.
The DECs in these districts were asked if their offices were receiving applications for voter registration. A total of 29 of the 33 DECs (88%) said they are receiving applications for voter registration. Two DECs said they had stopped receiving applications (6%), and two chose not to share information about voter registration with FAFEN observers (6%).
Of the 29 districts receiving voter registration applications, 23 DECs (79%) said they are compiling statistics (keeping records) on voter registration, while four (14%) were not. The remaining two DECs did not share any information (7%).
In total, among the 33 DECs interviewed, more than two-third DECs (23, or 70%) shared complete information with FAFEN about ongoing voter registration statistics. More than one-tenth (4, or 12%) were receiving voter registration applications, but were not keeping records of the number of applications. Two DECs were receiving applications, but declined to share the data with FAFEN (6%), two were not receiving voter registration applications (6%), and two declined to provide any information about voter registration to FAFEN (6%).
For complete report, click here
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